


Montauk: Two Worlds

by ThisGorlie



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: AU, Adventure, Aged-Up Character(s), Based off of the KDrama W: Two Worlds, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Byeler - Freeform, Character Death, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Homophobic Language, M/M, Mike is 18 and Will is 17, One-Sided Mileven, Suicidal Thoughts, Takes Place In Present Day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-07 08:19:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15214970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisGorlie/pseuds/ThisGorlie
Summary: Montauk, a webtoon and graphic novel created by Jonathan Byers, comes to life as an alternate universe. When the main character of the popular graphic novel, Mike Wheeler, has his life on the line and is just minutes away from dying, Will Byers suddenly gets sucked into the world of Montauk. From then on, Will is able to travel back and forth from his own universe to Mike's universe. A domino effect of events occur and Will sparks an unexpected relationship with Mike.





	1. Chapter 1

****_Montauk, Book 1, Chapter 1  
_ _Hawkins, Indiana_  
**9/23/2014 – 4:45 P.M**

All Mike could do was look on in horror when he saw the bodies of his sisters, Holly and Nancy, his mother, and his father. Their cold, unmoving corpses lay on the ground in his living room, each of them having bullets imbedded deep into their chest, as if they were meticulously aimed towards that area. Blood pooled the floor surrounding them.

The 16-year-old stood there frozen, unable to move, the only noise in the living room being the peripheral sound of the contents playing on the flat screen TV across from him.

His family. Gone. Seemingly taken away from him. For a second, Mike thought his mind was playing tricks on him. He thought this whole ordeal was a frightening dream he would wake up from within seconds, but it wasn’t. He couldn’t feel his body lying over top of his bed; he didn’t have that familiar sensation of being in a lucid dream. This was all real.

His parents and siblings were shot dead and there was absolutely nothing that would change that. 

Unable to take the horrid sight in front of him, he ran towards the bathroom.

 

\------

 

 **** _Montauk, Book 1, Chapter 1_  
_Hawkins, Indiana  
__9/23/2014 – 5:13 P.M_  

“Indiana Senator, Ted Wheeler, was shot dead at his home one hour ago today. His wife and two daughters were also killed in the same location. His 16 year old son is his only surviving child. Police are unaware of the perpetrator’s identity but efforts are being made to find out who it is. We urge all people within and near the Hawkins area to stay inside their homes unless it’s an absolute emergency…”

Mike tried his hardest to drown out the sound of the reporter’s voice from the TV across from him. His eyes were fixated on the mug of water he was given. He felt cold all over, absently pulling down the towel wrapped around him so it would cover his entire upper body. The boy kept to himself in the police station he resided in, not saying a single word to anyone since he was escorted there. That harrowing call he made to the police would haunt him forever, the piercing sounds of the sirens as the cars came barreling down his affluent and normally peaceful neighborhood would play in his head for months…maybe even years.

“We’re going to need to get some answers from you, Michael. Can you do that for us?”

One of the police officers assigned to Mike took a seat from him – his name was Officer Callahan.

“It’s Mike,” The boy corrected him, his tone blank, his first words spoken since he was driven to the station.

“Of course,” He nodded, his voice as friendly as he could muster.

Mike was visibly uncomfortable and clearly shaken. He wanted to be anywhere but here, but he knew if he wanted the mystery to his parents’ and siblings’ deaths to be solved, he had to cooperate with them. That meant answering any question, no matter how intrusive.

“So, you weren’t home when this occurred?” Callahan asked. It was a bit awkward starting the whole conversation on that note, but he had to get to the important particulars in a quick fashion instead of beating around the bush.

“No.”

His voice was weaker, little emotion encapsulating it.

“I found them lying on the ground…in the living room,” He continued, his irises shifting from place to place, anywhere from the cop’s strong stare. Under the table, Mike clamped his clammy palms together, to keep them from shaking any longer.

“Do you have any clues on anyone who could plot something as horrible as this?” Callahan asked.

Mike briefly parted his lips. Ted Wheeler being an affluent and prominent senator obviously made him prone to targeted attacks, but he was utterly clueless on who exactly would do such a thing. Large scale crimes, let alone incidents like these, never happened in Hawkins. Hawkins was a town reveled for being uneventful and serene as could be.

“No,” Mike repeated, the frail cadence to his voice unchanging.

“Okay,” The officer concluded, observing how uncomfortable Mike looked, “We’ll do everything within our power to make sure we catch this guy. You can count on us.”

He stood up from his seat, giving the boy a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

  

\------

 

The flashes of light from cameras were nearly blinding as Mike was ushered out of the station. His face was partially shielded to protect his identity in case any photograph or video taken by the paparazzi would be publicized on a news website or air on national TV. Bodyguards walked beside and in front of the teen to keep the boy from being physically pushed by the photographers that bombarded them.

“Do you know who did this your father? Was it someone close to him? You must have some idea!” One of them shouted over the noise the others were making.

All of the invasive questions and statements they made almost made Mike want to hurl or even physically attack them for being so damn inconsiderate. 

“Did you see the man who did this?”

“Why would they attack your sisters?”

“Was this because of political differences?”

“You were the only one found alive in your home! Were you responsible? Was this because of a quarrel between you and your father?”

The fact that a 16 year old lost his entire family within a span of one hour and was most likely still in shock from it all evaded them. Mike kept his lips glued shut, even at that last question. He kept his eyes low while the guards continued to guide him towards the vehicle he was to leave in.

  

\-----

****

**_Two and a half weeks later…_ **

“…I just want them all to go away,” Mike said, “Can’t you do that for me, Steve?”

“We’re trying our best, but they’re persistent,” The older male, Steve, said. He was one of the Wheeler family’s most trusted bodyguards and was often treated as a family friend rather than someone employed under them, “They can’t get in here, you know that, right?”

“I know,” Mike said. He stood up, slightly peeking through the window of the grandiose lodge he was currently staying in. He saw the dozens of cameramen and paparazzi many feet below as they edged the entrance of the building. Not too far, their vehicles were parked, crowding the neighborhood’s main street. Where Mike was staying was a rather remote place in Hawkins, but some of the paps must have tipped someone off so they could disclose Mike’s location.

“Eventually they’ll move onto other things when the next interesting event or scandal hits. It’s how these guys work.”

Mike let out a prolonged puff of air out of his nose, unconvinced at Steve’s reassuring words. He slumped back in his seat and looked ahead, not focusing on particularly anything. As difficult as it was, he wanted to forget about this whole predicament. He didn’t want the reporters and detectives to announce themselves, just to bombard him with more questions. The boy leaned forwards on his desk, raking his raven black hair between his fingers. He froze in that position for a moment before bringing his head back up.

“Steve…”

“What’s up?”

Steve noticed Mike’s parted lips and lengthy silence after his response. The boy was rather hesitant to say what he was about to say next.

“I almost did it yesterday.”

“Did what?” Steve’s relaxed mood was instantly gone as he looked on at Mike with concern. The 16 year old’s voice was laced with emotion, a newfound sadness to it. It was a stark contrast to his frustrated attitude he had seconds ago.

“I was…” His voice was weak.

“I-I was going to take the entire bottle of those headache pills.”

“Mike–”

“I couldn’t take it anymore…and I still can’t,” He continued, his voice shaky, “E-Everywhere I look, I-I’m reminded of this. Walking into my house and finding my entire family…my dad, my mom, and my sisters…dead in my own home–”

Mike’s sentence came to an abrupt stop. He suddenly shook his head once he saw the immense amount of worry etched on Steve’s face; the 20 year old was clearly taken aback and surprised at Mike’s sudden confession.

“I don’t want you to worry, Steve. I don’t– I don’t ever plan on doing that again,” Mike said, regaining his composure. He didn’t want to drain his close friend too much, considering he was almost as shaken as he was the moment he found out about the deaths of Mike’s parents and sisters. Mike assumed it wouldn’t be fair of him to spill all of that to Steve, even if he couldn’t control his sudden out-pour of emotions.

“The thing is, is that you don’t plan that type of stuff,” Steve spoke up, he cleared his throat, “You can talk to me about anything, you know that, right?”

The other nodded, although tentatively, “There’s also the therapist so I don’t burden you with all of this–”

“–who will be coming in two days before you’re done packing up for Maine,” Steve interrupted, “You need a proper outlet for now. Don’t be afraid to talk.”

“Okay,” Mike simply said.

Derry, Maine.

His aunt and uncle, who lived there, kindly offered to take him in. It would be a fresh change of scenery, far, far away from the town of Hawkins.

“I’m going to rest for a bit,” Mike said, getting up from his desk chair, “‘Probably wake up in a better mood.”

“Call me if you need anything,” Steve said.

“I will,” Mike replied. Although he had a caretaker to assist and watch over him for the meantime, Steve was someone he could confide in the most.

After a few last words, Steve left the bedroom and eventually the property with much trouble, because of the overcrowding paparazzi.

Mike climbed into his bed. He pulled the thick quilt over him and closed his eyes, hoping tomorrow would be a bit more bearable than today.

  

\------

  
**_Hawkins, Indiana  
_ _10/10/2016 - 8:51 A.M_**

  

“Will! Are you awake yet?!”

Will stubbornly fished for his bed covers and flipped them over his body. The boy firmly kept his eyes closed and curled up in a sideways fetal position. He surely did not want to go to school today, not on this cold and rainy Monday. He’d much rather stay wrapped up in this comfortable position for the next 12 hours or maybe until Friday.

“It’s nearly 9:00! You should be up by now!” His mom’s voice repeated.

_Don’t want to go to school. Don’t want to go to school. Don’t want to go to school._

Seconds later he heard the sound of his bedroom door being pushed open, rather abruptly. The sudden noise of the old door startled the boy. A frustrated Will pushed off his bedsheet, before he saw his mother, Joyce, stand at the doorway, an impatient expression marking her features.

“Mom, I told you I don’t like when you do that!” Will said his voice on the verge of anger. He was a little grouchy this morning, his unbridled anger towards his mother a little much but he literally did not want to get up today.

“School starts in 20 minutes. You should have been awake long ago,” Mrs. Byers ignored his frustrations, “What happens when you're late and you get a tardy slip? This will be your third time this year. You know what happens when it's your third time right?”

Will pressed his brows together, his frustration making him tune out his mother’s rambling.

“Can’t I just call in sick? I’m not feeling very well today,” The boy said, inattentively pulling his bedsheet back over his lap.

Joyce reached over towards her son and touched his forehead. It was lukewarm to the touch, not unusually warm or anything. She shook her head in disbelief. He got away with it before; he certainly was not getting away with it this time.

“You don't look sick to me,” Joyce said, removing her hand from Will.

_She’s catching on._

“But I am!” Will retorted, his voice an octave higher.   

“Okay I'll get the thermometer then.”

_Fuck, not the thermometer._

Will resisted the urge to let out an exasperated groan as he watched his mom leave his bedroom on her way to the bathroom to find said thermometer. He could fake being sick, but he surely could not fake his body temperature.

He flopped back on his bed, cursing to himself when he hit the back of his head against the bed frame.

  

\-----

  

Unfortunately, the thermometer never lied. Will had a perfectly normal temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

With his backpack haphazardly strapped to his shoulder, he turned the lock combination to his locker before opening the lock. His eyelids felt heavy as he tried pushing away the last bit of dreariness he felt. Unfortunately, Will wasn’t going to get over his sleepiness and incessant yawns until the evening.

Before he could pull out his books, he felt a firm grip on his shoulder.

“Ah!” Will yelped.

His shoulders lowered when he realized it was just his best friend, Lucas Sinclair.

“Relax, it’s just me,” His friend said, “Why so jumpy this morning?”

“You know me, Lucas. I’m always jumpy,” Will replied, only earning a shrug from the other.

“So what are you going to do about the trig test?”

“Wait until my mom finds out. She’s going to _kill_ me once she realizes I’m failing that class,” Will sighed, “Then it’s after-school tutoring for the rest of my time in high school.”

He shut his locker after grabbing his books.

“There’s no harm in that if it helps,” Lucas replied, “You don’t want to fail, do you?”

His friend _always_ had to be the voice of reason.

“Well–” Will stopped, “No…I don’t. I just– what do I need algebra II for, anyways? It’s not like I’m going to do anything related to math once I graduate. What’s the point?”

“Maybe you might change your mind halfway into college and end up dropping out of art school. Before you know it, you’ll end up being a math or a physics major. You’ll need all the high school level algebra you can get.”

“I take that back, you don’t know me at all,” Will teased, the two walking side-by-side, “I don’t see myself doing anything else, ever.”

“So are you going to take after your brother or something?”

“No way,” Will shook his head, “The work he does is so demanding. Dustin always tells me how stressed he gets when a deadline for a new chapter is coming.”

Jonathan Byers was infamous around Hawkins.

Creator and illustrator of the 2014 webtoon and graphic novel, Montauk, earned him a newfound recognition. Mostly taking place in Hawkins, Indiana, the story behind the comics and the main character, Mike Wheeler, quickly intrigued people around the country.  People would anxiously and excitedly wait for a new chapter each time the previous one was released. Their expectation couldn’t be helped. After all, each chapter ended with a cliff hanger. They wanted to know what would happen next.

Unfortunately, Will was often bombarded with questions from his classmates because of this.

  

\------

 

“Byers! Just the boy we needed to see!”

His shoulders stiffened when he could see Troy and James take the seats opposite him in the lunch table he usually sat in. He desperately glossed the lunchroom once more to see if his friends were anywhere in sight. Much to his chagrin, they weren’t. They were most likely stuck in the traffic jam they called the lunch line.

“What do you want, Troy?”

Will’s voice came out harsher than expected, a mistake he made. He didn’t want to get on the bad side of those two. Their intimidating presences often unsettled a normally timid Will.

“Hey, we’re not going to do anything bad to you,” James added, “This time, at least.”

Troy shoved James on the shoulder.

“He’s not going to tell us shit if you mess this up for me,” Troy hissed to his friend, out of earshot of Will.

“Right,” James said, slightly annoyed at his friend’s action.

Once they had Will’s undivided attention, Troy spoke up first.

“It’s about Montauk,” He began, almost causing Will to roll his eyes. He _knew_ this was going to happen. But he stopped himself before he could. He _really_ didn’t want to get on their bad side.

“When’s he uploading the 11th chapter?” James asked.

“Yeah, the fans deserve know,” Troy said, “By my calculations of Jonathan’s regular release dates, it should have been posted two days ago. Two days ago!”

Will almost instinctively leaned back as Troy’s voice got louder. He really wasn’t pleased that Jonathan was extending the deadline this time.

“He’s never late, ever…which makes this all the more strange. He should at least make an announcement that he’s going to post the chapter a little late instead of keeping us all waiting and spamming his blog like idiots–”

“I don’t know!” Will exclaimed, interrupting Troy. Their overly ardent and confrontational demeanors were already overwhelming him, “…He’s probably having some technical issues.”

Troy shifted in his seat.

“Okay, then,” He said, not satisfied with Will’s brief answer, “Can you at _least_ give us a sneak peak of what’s coming next chapter?”

James eagerly nodded, also wanting what could be an impromptu spoiler from Will.

“We want to know why Mike suddenly had to make a stop at that hotel of all places. There was no foreshadowing or building at all to that point. What’s the significance of that? Was he meeting someone he hadn’t seen in a while, someone important? Was it Jane, the girl who was interested in him? It didn’t make sense to me…or to anyone else who finished!”

Will shook his head, ignoring the fervor in James’ voice as he spoke. They _really_ wanted to know as they were both huge fanboys of Montauk.

“I-I can’t do that.”

“Why the hell not?” Troy asked, a sudden bout of annoyance arising through him.

“Jonathan never tells me anything and for a good reason too.”

“You’re his brother, that doesn’t make sense.”

Will simply shrugged.

He almost let out a sigh of relief when he saw Lucas and Dustin, lunch trays in hand. They weren’t even confused at Troy’s and James’ presence cause they, too, knew why they so suddenly sat in Will’s table.

“Whatever,” Troy finally said, “Next time tell your brother to not be so secretive anymore.”

With that, he and James quickly gathered their items and left Will’s table.

“You can tell them to stop bothering you, you know,” Dustin said, “You have to stand up to them someday.”

“You know he can’t do that. They’ll make his and _our_ lives a living hell here,” Lucas replied.

The two of them finally sat down.

“It’s not too bad…” Will said, with a slight upward movement of his shoulders, “Like Lucas said, they won’t do anything awful to us if we don’t piss them off too much.”

“What’d they ask you this time?”

“Most likely something about the 11th chapter,” Dustin said, “Catch on, Lucas. You should know the routine by now.”

“That’s coming from someone who works closely with Jonathan,” Lucas retorted, “He doesn’t even let me or Will into his workspace.”

Since last year, Dustin worked part time as an assistant editor to Jonathan. He would often do tasks such as designing landscapes, helping Jonathan visualize scenes throughout chapters, or organize the rough edits of storyboards. Though, he wasn’t allowed to see the final put-together draft until Jonathan actually released it…so he had next to no idea of what came in store. It was a tasking job for a high school senior, but he could handle the demands of it.

  

\------

 

 __  
**_Hawkins, Indiana  
_ _10/15/2016 - 1:30 P.M_**

 

Will was comfortably cooped up in his bed, finishing a do-over of one of his math assignments he previously failed on. The boy wrapped thick quilts of bedsheets around his shoulders to keep warm.

He dropped his pencil on his notebook the minute he saw his cell phone vibrate beside him. He couldn’t keep away from his distractions.

He immediately answered it.

“Dustin, I told you not to call me now–”

“Will, it’s kind of an emergency,” His friend interrupted.

Will quickly sat up, no longer leaning against his bedframe.

“What happened?”

“It’s about Jonathan,” Dustin said, his voice to the brim of worry, “…He hasn’t been back since Thursday.”

“Has he called you?”

Will hadn’t recalled Jonathan’s absence. He was so busy during the week that the thought had escaped him. There was also the fact his college-aged brother lived in a completely different home in another part of town and he would seldom call Will and the others since he had such a heavy workload.

“No,” The other responded, after a short pause, “Max said he hasn’t called her either. He’d usually tell us by now if he was leaving somewhere for a while, I guess.”

The brown-haired boy absently bit his bottom lip.  

“Okay, I’ll go to his house to see if anything is up,” He said, before hanging up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to know your thoughts on the idea of this story and this first chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got rid of the "earth" part on the "location/time stamps" (and will probably do the same for chapter 1 later) cause I think it looks awkward. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I wanna know what you think of the general plot/pacing!

 

**_Hawkins, Indiana  
_ ** **_10/15/2016 - 2:04 P.M_ **

 

 

After parking his bike on the side, Will repeatedly knocked on the front door of Jonathan’s house.

When he got no response, he absently turned the doorknob, slightly startled when he realized the door was unlocked all this time.

“Jonathan?” Will shouted, entering the house and heading towards the door that led to his older brother’s workspace.

He knew his brother hated when people would interrupt him during a hectic workday, a workday that was quickly approaching a deadline for the webcomic.

“Jonathan, I have something to–”

Will stopped mid-sentence when he saw no sign of his brother. No one else was inside the room and everything seemed to be within its place. His hand remained on the half-opened door when he noticed the computer that was left on, the light emitting out of the bright screen. He frowned.

Jonathan _never_ left the computer on when he wasn’t inside the room.

Even if Dustin or Max were inside, he turned the monitor off. That was a sign for Will to turn heel and leave. Jonathan would be pissed alright if he found him inside without his permission. Hell, Jonathan almost never allowed him inside, even when he himself was present. He was one to take his comic-making seriously, not even allowing his own brother to see the results of the latest chapter until the “webisode” or full chapter was uploaded on the internet for the general public to see.

However, Will’s curiosity superseded common sense at the moment. He walked further inside, unknowingly biting his nails. He looked around, admiring the concept-art and photography Jonathan used as blueprints for Montauk, the photography being taken by his truly for inspiration. Most of them were clipped onto the walls of the workspace, making them a focal point of the room.

The photographs were mostly of buildings and landmarks of Hawkins, some of them stemming to the city of Indianapolis, a few in Montauk, New York and Derry, Maine. The concept art was of a wide array of the characters from the comic, both major and minor ones. Will let out a small smile when he saw a quick sketch of Mike Wheeler that lay on Jonathan’s main desk. The detailed drawing captured all of the character’s features – his dark and wavy black hair, his pale complexion, his intriguing brown eyes, and the sparse amount of freckles that adorned his face. It was clear Will got his artistry from Jonathan.

Will stopped when he reached the computer.

He glanced at the screen, his eyes widening when he saw what looked like to be near the end of a chapter. His lips were parted and the boy looked to be in a state of shock.

This was certainly something he was not expecting.

The comic-panels were finished; the art was finished…all that needed to be done was the final editing.

But that wasn’t the thing that disturbed Will. What disturbed him was _what_ Jonathan drew in the last panel. 

Mike Wheeler lay on the ground, blood soaking the edge of his white shirt as droplets of rain were intricately drawn around him. His dark brown eyes were half closed. It was clear he was losing a lot of blood, it seeming like it was spreading across the ground in a rapid fashion. It seemed like he was stabbed and he was on the brink of losing consciousness...or dying. 

Will pressed the back button to go to the previous page. His lips remained parted, seeing an unidentifiable person in a mask stab Mike on the side of his stomach area. The previous page before that had Mike get into a physical altercation with that same person.

He clicked twice to enter the final page, his eyes on Mike’s supposedly dying self.

_Was Jonathan intending to end Montauk by killing off Mike?_

Will turned around, once again chewing the nail on his index finger. He didn’t want to come to that conclusion because he adored Montauk. Like many others, he absolutely loved the web series. For two years, he would wait in anticipation for each chapter to come out and for the actual graphic novels to come out later. He loved Mike Wheeler as a character. He was complex, interesting, and he was the type of person that Will looked up to. He loved seeing what type of shenanigans and conflicts Mike would get into.

But he couldn’t completely blame his brother. All of the deadlines and the pressure of having to have a chapter out every few weeks stressed out Jonathan. Even if he had help from Dustin, Max, or a couple of his other assistants, it was still a lot of strain on him. His older brother often gave hints that he wanted to end the series and move onto other things.

When Will was about to leave the room in case he would hear Jonathan’s quiet footsteps, he felt himself unable to move, like a sudden force was keeping him fixed in his position.

He tried taking a step forward and another one, but he was stuck in place.  

That was when he slowly and apprehensively turned his head around.

Will’s hazel eyes went round when he saw a sleeved arm emerging from the monitor screen. Its bloodied hand had grabbed the back of Will’s sweater fabric by the fistful. His lower lip trembled and his breathing was labored. All the brown-haired boy could do was freeze in place, absolute terror encapsulating his features.

Will’s breath hitched when he felt himself being pulled into the screen.

 

\------

****

**_Unknown  
10/7/2016 - 6:45 P.M_ **

 

 

When Will opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was rain pouring down on him.

The sky was unusually dark even though it was the crack of 2:00 P.M…or at least it was 2:00 when he last checked. Will shuddered when he pushed himself upwards from his lying position. It was freezing and the thick droplets of rain weren’t helping.

He was high up on a roof of a building, which had to be at least 70 feet from the ground. Squinting his eyes through the rain, he was able to see numerous faraway skyscrapers and other city buildings with brightly lit windows surrounding him.

_…Where the hell am I?_

“J-Jonathan??” he yelled, his voice a pitch higher and on the verge of panicking. He knew his brother wouldn’t be here…wherever this place was, but he couldn’t fully blame himself for instinctively shouting for his brother.

Before he could fully stand up on his feet, he saw someone’s body several meters away from him. He could see profuse amounts of blood spread out from the person’s torso. It was as if he was left there to die alone as there was no one else in sight besides the two of them.

Will shot upwards and ran towards the person.

“Oh my god…”

Will’s voice was shaky once he got a better look at them. He crouched downwards, his quivering hands looming over the person.

His white top was tattered in blood, most of it spreading from the edge of his torso. His eyes were half closed as he was seemingly unresponsive. His skin was paler than usual and his entire self was drenched as he lay unconscious in the heavy rain.

Will eyebrows furrowed, taking in the very familiar appearance of the boy – his pale skin, the freckles that decorated his face, his dark brown eyes, and his wavy black hair.

_There was no way._

That was when he snapped himself back into reality.

“H-hey, can you hear me?” Will frantically nudged at the other boy’s shoulder. He quickly placed his palm against his chest. Although he was unresponsive, his heartbeat was weak. He was still alive. Will removed his hand, his fingers tattered with the blood that was rapidly accruing.

“Oh fuck…fuck, fuck…” Will muttered to himself. He looked around and still saw no sign of anybody else on the roof.

He looked back down at the guy, “Hang in there, I’ll be right back!”

Will turned heel towards an exit he saw, one that would lead him inside the building to get help of any kind. He bounded down the steps, his heartbeat racing and his breathing quick.

He was panicking, alright.

 

\------

 

The flight of stairs led to a narrow hallway. Will tried opening the doors adjacent to him, but they were locked. He picked up his pace and found one last entrance. He pushed open the door.

A very frantic Will entered what looked like to be a commercial kitchen. He hesitated for a moment, trying to recollect what the hell was going on and where the hell he ended up at...and how he even got here. In front of him, he saw a myriad of cooks busily prepping food or turning on the stoves to cook whatever dishes they needed to serve to customers. Over the noise of the clattering pans and kitchen equipment, they weren’t aware of his presence.

“Excuse me!” He shouted, trying to get their attention.

When one of them caught sight of the out-of-place wide-eyed boy, Will snapped out of his reverie. He didn’t have time to contemplate anything, not when someone else was on the verge of dying.

“There’s someone on the roof…he’s– he’s bleeding to death!” He managed to say.

They gave him questioned glances, looking at him as if he were speaking some foreign language.

But fortunately, within seconds, one of the kitchen employees told another to use the office phone to call for an ambulance. Without thinking, Will quickly left the kitchen and went through the same hallway which led to the steps he came from. He ran up them, skipping some at a time.

Through the pouring rain, he saw the guy remain on the ground.

Will instantly tore open the white shirt the boy wore, forcefully prying the buttons apart. Once he saw the actual stab wound, he unzipped his own sweater and pressed it against the guy’s wound to keep anymore blood from coming out.

He looked behind him and saw a several other employees, including the restaurant manager run up to the roof where Will was. They stopped, shock enveloping their faces, when they saw Will looming over the brutally attacked boy, the former pressing his sweater cloth against him.

“Did you call the ambulance??” Will asked, before looking back at the other boy.

“Yes, they’re on their way!” One of the employees replied, “H-how did this happen? Did you see who did this to him?”

Will shook his head.

“I found him like this…w-when I–”

“His eyes! He’s still awake!”

Will blocked out the scattered voices of the employees when he saw the boy flutter his eyes back open. His eyes weren’t on the many employees that accompanied Will; instead, they were fixed on the boy who had pressed his sweater against his wound. He stared straight at Will, slowly blinking for what seemed to be seconds. Will subconsciously zoned out, losing his hold on him. Instead, he stared right back at him, his hazel eyes unblinking. It seemed like an eternity before the other’s eyes became fully closed.

“First-aid kit! We have a first-aid kit!”

Will heard the panic-stricken voice of another employee.   

 

\------

 

By the time the ambulance had arrived, Will was standing against the ledge of the roof, watching all the ambulance workers attend to the boy. He could see other men, who weren’t a part of the ambulance team, frantically murmur amongst each other. It was clear the boy was a very important person.

Will was astonished, once again taking a look at the place supposedly landed in. The rain had stopped but he was soaked and he was freezing. The building lights that surrounding the place lit up the completely dark sky. The urban landscape looked exactly like the scenery he saw at the end of the 11th chapter.

Without thinking, Will took slow steps towards the workers surrounding the boy, to get a better look at what they were doing exactly. They had hoisted him up on a stretcher after carefully bandaging his wound and greatly reducing the blood loss.

_There was no way. There was absolutely no way._

Those words kept echoing in Will’s head.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw the boy had returned his fixed gaze to him. His dark brown irises bored into his own hazel ones, his stare unmoving. It was a curious and thoughtful one that wasn’t completely masked by the drowsiness he felt from losing so much blood.

In what seemed to happen under a second, the ambulance workers began to carry the stretcher away, to get the boy to safety. The other men who accompanied them left as well, all except one.

Will raised his head when he saw that one was approaching him.

“That was a close one, wasn’t it?” He said, “If it weren’t for you, he would have died from blood loss.”

“He had minutes left after you told the others to call the ambulance,” He continued, “I offer my sincere gratitude…”

There was a lull in is voice as he gestured towards him, silently asking for Will’s identity.

“Will,” The boy said, “…Will Byers.”

“Thank you, Will Byers.”

Will nodded, surprise still evident on his face.

“Who is he?” The brown-haired boy suddenly asked, before he could think.

“He’s Mike Wheeler, a very special person that one,” He replied, “You might recognize him as the surviving child of Ted Wheeler.”

Will could only stand there in shock after the man exchanged a few last words with him. He looked ahead after watching the man run after the other workers who carried the stretcher.

He couldn’t have…

None of this made any sense to him since it was humanely impossible in the first place.

Will stood frozen in place, his heartbeat shooting through the roof. He couldn’t even get his mind to race with all the expectant thoughts he was supposed to have at the moment. He was too freaked out and incredulous to do that.

 

**_…To be continued._ **

****

Will frowned when he saw those three words, in bright gold letters, form out of thin air.

“…What the hell?”

Will’s brows remained furrowed as he slowly walked towards the floating letters. He stopped once he felt a sudden tightness in his chest and a strange sense of vertigo.

The atmosphere around him was slowly moving further away, the letters of ‘ **To be continued** ’ getting smaller and smaller. His breathing stopped when he saw his surroundings begin to fade, the colors losing saturation.

Within seconds, he saw the surroundings of Jonathan’s room reappear.

Will’s mouth hung open, his eyes unblinking at the computer screen ahead of him. He saw the comic panel with Mike Wheeler’s bleeding form, as how it was left. There wasn’t any sign of movement, it was as stationary as any regular drawing would be.

The brown-haired boy slowly outstretched his hand towards the LED. He ignored his trembling fingers as they got closer and closer towards the screen, towards the drawing of Mike.

…it was as if he was waiting for the drawing to jump right out at him.

“Will! There you are!”

Will flinched and jerked his arm back when he saw Dustin barge through the open door of Jonathan’s office room.

“Dustin! You scared me!” Will exclaimed; he could hear his own heartbeat.

“You left the front door open,” He continued, ignoring his friend’s clearly distressed state, “You couldn’t find him here either?

“I– No, I-I couldn’t,” He stumbled on his speech, “He must have…”

Will trailed off, once again unable to take his mind off of what happened moments ago.

“What’s wrong?” Dustin asked, just now noticing Will’s disoriented face, “You look like you just saw a wild tiger– wait, why are you soaking wet?”

As Dustin got closer to the other boy, he saw Will’s completely drenched outfit alongside his hair which was sticking to all corners of his forehead.

“Huh?”

“You’re covered head-to-toe with water,” He repeated, bewildered by Will’s sudden lack of attention.

Will looked down at himself, just now noticing his drenched condition. He was no longer wearing his sweater, just a long-sleeved white shirt.   

“…I fell into a really large puddle on my way here.”

Will passed Dustin, his steps slow and his tormented expression not going away any time soon.

“Hey! Jonathan finished the draft of this chapter early!”

The brown-haired boy turned around, seeing the other crouched over Jonathan’s workspace, his eyes scanning the recently finished comic panels.

“H-holy shit…”

“What? What is it?” Will raised his eyebrows, more so at Dustin’s completely flabbergasted voice.

“Come and take a look at this.”

Will peered over Dustin.

His eyes nearly fell out of his sockets from them being open so wide.

There was a new page that came after the supposed last one where Mike was assumed to be dead. The drawing was of a boy running towards Mike, brown hair shaped into a bowl cut. He had an oversized blue sweater on, and wore light blue jeans. In the next few panels, he was in a panicked frenzy before he ran down a flight of stairs only to end up in a kitchen. The panel after that showed him frantically shouting for help.

Then the next panel had him running back to the roof of the building to apply pressure to Mike’s wound with his sweater.

These were the exact events that transpired when he was…transported into that world.

“That person looks exactly like you,” Dustin said, he looked at Will, “Did you know that Jonathan was doing this?”

All Will could do was stay silent.

“Seems a little strange to insert a character based off of his little brother–”

Will reached over Dustin and turned the computer off. He needed time to think, _a lot of time to think._

“What was that for?!”

“I need you to leave,” Will said, in the most polite voice he could muster. That didn’t work. His voice came off as callous and cold, unintentionally though.

“What? Why? But what about Jonathan?”

“I-I’m sure he’s okay. He’s always gone out for days and he came back home just fine.”

“But, Will, he usually tells either one of us that–”

“Please, Dustin. Just leave,” The other boy pleaded, ignoring Dustin’s point, “I need to think.”

Dustin was unmoving from his spot, hoping Will would at least explain his sudden panicky mood.

“…I’ll text you later.”

“Okay,” He finally said, although in a reluctant voice, “Don’t forget to, especially if he isn’t back home by tonight.”

“Promise,” Will reassured his friend.

 

 

\------

**_  
_ ** ****_Hawkins, Indiana  
10/15/2016 - 6:11 P.M_

 

It had been four hours and Jonathan hadn’t called back. Will was pacing back and forth in his room, a barrage of thoughts running through his mind.

There was no discernable way he could call the authorities. They would send him off to the nuthouse, after he told them he got sucked into an alternate universe based off of his brother’s web comics, all while possibly saving the main character’s life.

_Where the hell was Jonathan anyways?_

As he mentioned to Dustin, his brother would often disappear to remote locations to clear his head out and escape from the stressors of his work-intensive career. But this time, he didn’t leave a message as to where he left and when he was coming back. Nobody knew about his brother’s whereabouts. This entire predicament was strange.

Will groaned and sat back down on his bed. Adding onto his lingering anxiety, he was frustrated.

He suddenly pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and dialed Dustin’s number.

“Any luck on Jonathan?” Will said, the minute Dustin answered.

“None, zilch,” Dustin sighed, “Max called and she doesn’t have a clue either.”

_Just great._

“Your mom could go to the station and get them to file a missing report.”

Will fully laid back on his bed, clutching his phone tighter. He almost thought he would break it. What Dustin said seemed plausible, but nearly not as plausible as what he was about to say next.

“Dustin…what if I told you…”

“What? What is it?”

Dustin’s voice was very attentive.

Will could feel the palms of his hands sweat. Dustin was a close friend, he would understand, right?”

“Dustin…” He nervously continued, “…I know this sounds crazy and I might even sound like a lunatic for saying this, but I think Jonathan might have got pulled into his comic.”

There was a short pause. Dustin heard him loud and clear.

“What?”

Will let out a shaky breath. He didn’t want to repeat himself. He sat back up.

“T-think about it. He _never_ leaves his computer on when he’s not in that room, right?”

“…Right.”

“The only place he could have been at the time of his ‘vanishing’ was his workroom. He would never carelessly leave his unfinished work out in the open, even if it was just to get of glass of water from the kitchen, which takes him seconds to do. S-so I’m pretty sure he got sucked in– I-I mean– ugh, that didn’t sound right. B-but you get what I’m saying, don’t you?”

Will’s nerves had gotten the better of him.

“Will, you’re my friend and I love you, but that’s the craziest shit I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth.”

“I know. That’s why I said it sounded crazy in the first place.”

“Then why did you say it?”

Will hesitated for a moment.

“Because it happened to me.”

“Come on, Will. How much sleep are you getting?”

“Enough to know that whatever happened was not me hallucinating or dreaming,” He argued, his frustration arising, “Look, when I went into Jonathan’s room and saw that his computer was on, I went to take a look. When I was finished doing that and about to leave, I couldn’t move…I saw something grab me from behind. I literally got pulled into the screen and ended up in the exact same place you saw in those comic panels. I was there for about 20 minutes before I came back...or at least that’s what it felt like.”

Will’s anxiousness was present when he heard a long silence from the other end.

“…Right before I left, you said the front door was unlocked when you first came into his house,” Dustin retorted, “Someone might have broken in and kidnapped him.”

Much to Will’s dismay, Dustin raised a point. But Will was certain he wasn’t dreaming, whatever he was about to say next invalidated that.

“The panels that you saw of that “lookalike character” weren’t drawn in by Jonathan. In fact those panels didn’t exist when I first looked through his computer today. That chapter abruptly ended with Mike nearly bleeding to death so the new panels must have been drawn in automatically, at the exact same time as I was in the comic.”

There was a tense silence.

“Prove it,” Dustin finally said.

“How? By forcefully getting myself back inside the comic?”

“I don’t know! It’s just– I have a hard time believing my friend got sucked into some alternate dimension his brother drew on Clip Studio Paint Pro.”

Will shifted his phone to his other ear.

“Just…” He began, “…Meet me at Jonathan’s and bring Max with you.”

“Okay, fine,” Dustin replied, still unconvinced at the turn of events, “Whatever works best for you.”

“Good. I have the keys to his house this time.”

 

\------

_Michael Wheeler._

_18 years old. Born in 1998; Montauk, New York._

_Mike Wheeler is the main character and protagonist of the graphic novel Montauk. With its inception, Montauk took place in 2014, the same year the first chapter of the first volume was released._

_The novel begins with a 16 year old Mike who was orphaned due to an unknown assailant breaking into his house and proceeding to murder his entire family. To this day, it is unclear who the perpetrator was, but it is presumed that they intended to target Indiana Senator, Ted Wheeler, and his family as a politically motivated ambush._

_Mike entered a state of depression due to this and almost attempted suicide. Not long after, he was taken in by his aunt and uncle from Derry, Maine. He resided with them and his cousin until he turned 18._

_After inheriting his father’s fortune, a staggering $36 million, he moved back to Hawkins to restart his life and follow in his father’s footsteps. Mike currently lives alone in a loft, studying law and plans on building a career around politics in the future._

_However, his life continues to be a rollercoaster as old memories involving the murder of his family resurface, new mysteries are uncovered, and new friendships and relationships are on the cusp of forming._

_What could be in store next for Mike?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a heads up: chapter 3 is going to be looooong and a lot is going to happen


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the very super long chapter!

**_Hawkins, Indiana  
10/15/2016 - 6:55 P.M_ **

 

“…and he was staring straight at me,” Will explained, “Like he was looking into my soul or something.”

Will’s back was to Jonathan’s computer screen.

Dustin would sift through the comic files as Will described, from beginning to end, what happened to him in what they unanimously called an alternate dimension. In addition, Will mentioned the particular outfit he wore in the comic, it being the same one he had on earlier today. There was no way Jonathan could be aware of what garments Will wore if his younger brother was not in his presence. 

Dustin and the red-headed girl beside him, Max Mayfield, looked on at the screen in awe as Will perfectly recited his story and the spoken dialogue involved which completely matched what was being depicted in the comic panels.

“ _Jesus Christ_ ,” Max breathed out, her unblinking blue eyes wandering from the computer screen and back towards Will.

Saying she was quite taken aback would be an understatement.

“You guys have to see this,” Dustin suddenly said, stopping at a certain page, “Will, I’m pretty sure I believe you now.”

Will turned back and saw Dustin had reached a panel where he introduced himself as “Will Byers” to one of the men who walked up to him. Dustin was previously unable to see that part of the chapter since Will curtly turned the computer off beforehand.

 “I told Dustin that these panels were being drawn by themselves as I was inside that alternate dimension,” Will said, moving in between Dustin and Max to reach for the computer mouse. He clicked several times, reaching the last page, “…and this is right before I came back. The chapter just stops there.”

“Okay, what do we do now?”

“First of all, we need to ask how the hell any of this is possible,” Max said, the palm of her hand clasped on her forehead. She was still trying to process all of this.

“That’s what I keep asking myself, but obviously there’s no answer to that. What we need to do is find Jonathan,” Will replied, answering Dustin’s initial question. He gestured towards the computer, suddenly self-conscious about the words coming out of his mouth, “Like me, he probably…got…sucked in…and he’s somehow…stuck there.”

“So that means we need to find a way to get back in,” Dustin said.

“And that, we have no idea how to do,” Max sighed, lifting her hands up and placing them back down beside her in exasperation.

The three were silent for a minute, looking straight ahead at the computer screen.

“Well, I got my mom to tell the police to file a missing report,” Will said, “In case I’m actually crazy and he didn’t get transported into his comic…”

There was another long bout of silence, before Max spoke up.

“Gosh I’m hungry.”

“Yeah, me too. All this thinking burns so much calories,” Dustin added, his voice just as anxious as Max’s.

The two looked at Will, exaggerated pleading looks on their faces. Will’s mouth twitched, knowing what this exactly meant. He lowered his shoulders in defeat.

“Okay, fine. I’ll go grab something from Benny’s, just pool in your money.”

The two proceeded to do that, each of them putting in an approximate amount enough to buy three meals.

When Will had left the house, Dustin broke the silence.

“Max, when I told you nothing happens in Hawkins, Indiana. I lied. I totally lied.”

“You sure did,” The California native said, taking a seat on the desk chair.

Dustin aimlessly paced back and forth, ignoring the perilous growls of his stomach. He hadn’t eaten all day, the stress of this whole situation never leaving him.

“I don’t know what else to say–”

“What are you guys doing in here?”

Dustin’s jaw dropped.

“Jonathan?!”

 

\------

****

**_Hawkins, Indiana  
10/15/2016 - 7:23 P.M_ **

 

Will carried the bags of food in either of his hands, his steps quick. Luckily, Jonathan lived near the town center of Hawkins so his house was just a walking distance from the diner Will came from.

He entered his brother’s house.

The minute he saw Jonathan was when he suddenly dropped his bags on the ground. His older brother was evidently in the middle of an important conversation with Max and Dustin, the three unknowing of Will’s entrance until they saw the boy in front of them.

“Jonathan! You’re back!”

“We’ve been trying to call you about that, but you wouldn’t pick up,” Max said.

“…Sorry my phone was on silent,” He said. His eyes almost bulged out of his sockets when he saw the drastic amount of ‘missed calls’ from Dustin on his cellphone screen.

“Will, I told you I don’t like when you guys come inside my workroom when I’m not here,” Jonathan spoke up. From their current location in the living room of the house, it was clear Jonathan escorted Will’s friends out as none of them were working at the moment.

“I know and I’m sorry. We were worried since you weren’t telling us anything.”

“And you don’t have to be, now that I’m back,” Will’s older brother said.

That brief statement obviously wasn’t enough for Will to take in. Jonathan was a man of few words, but his words were unusually terse, even for him.

“Where did you go this time anyways?” Will asked, “You should have at least given one of us a message.”

Dustin and Max momentarily looked at each other, both uncomfortable at the sudden tension between the two and Will’s predisposition to ask Jonathan bunch of grilling questions when he wasn’t saying enough to him. Will, rightfully so, was a little frustrated that his brother would take a sudden absence and not say a single thing. To make his mother and friends worry like that for no reason somewhat angered him. It was a little off, even for someone as closed-off as Jonathan.

“Just one of my usual retreats. It’s somewhere unimportant.”

“Where was that?”

Will glanced at Dustin who silently begged him to stop being so combative. They all knew Jonathan strongly disliked being probed with such questions.

“Don’t we have to call the police station?” He suddenly asked, evading Will’s question, “…So they know I’m no longer a missing person?”

“I can do that for you, Jonathan,” Dustin said, being quick to dial the number on his phone. He went into the kitchen to continue his call.

“But you’re okay, Will, right?”

“Yes I’m fine,” Will softly said. He found it weird that his brother would ask such a question when it should be him asking Jonathan.

After Dustin had called and settled that issue, Mrs. Byers was quickly notified as well and she had…a rather long talk with Jonathan about this. With that, Max and Dustin decided they would call it a day and leave, after a few “good nights” and the retrieving of a couple paper bags with the words “Benny’s Burgers” etched onto them.

That left Jonathan and Will alone.

“About your comic…we snooped through your latest chapter–”

Will was quick to assume Jonathan would be angered that his younger brother peeked through his unfinished draft…which he explicitly made forbidden for him to do, but he didn’t seem mad in any way when he interrupted with his next words.

“It’s about _that_ character, right?”

He was surprised Jonathan caught on so quickly, but they were siblings after all. They knew each other very well.

“The one that “looks” like me?”

“Yeah, I was thinking about adding in a new character for a while, but I couldn’t think of a distinct appearance so I just modeled it after you, if that’s okay.”

“Oh! That’s fine,” Will said, with forced enthusiasm. There was still much skepticism within him remaining, especially since Jonathan never addressed the “new character” referring to himself as “Will Byers”.

When Will was about to leave, something else came to mind. He had to make sure what really happened to him, actually happened, although he was 99% sure it did.

“Did you really finish Chapter 11 by yourself?”

Jonathan gave him a daunting stare. For some reason, it seemed he didn’t want Will to ask such a question. He quickly returned to his neutral expression, but the uneasiness Will felt in that split second remained.

“You think I didn’t?” The incredulousness within his voice was telling. As if his younger brother somehow insulted him by insinuating he didn’t draw an integral part of his own comic.

“Well– It’s not that…it’s just that– it all just seemed so quick.”

Will plucked at the cuff of his shirt. He wasn’t getting the answers he wanted and it suddenly dawned upon him that Jonathan _knew_ something happened to him.

“You should go home, Mom’s probably going to bombard you with calls if you’re out any later.”

As expected, Jonathan completely changed the subject once again. By now, it was clear he was uncomfortable talking about anything having to do with the comic. Jonathan was hiding something and Will knew it, but he didn’t want to possibly aggravate his brother any more. He did look quite tired, after all.

“Yeah, goodnight, Jonathan. Just tell us if you’re going to leave for a while next time, okay?”

“I will, just so you don’t worry.”

“Goodnight, Will,” He called out, watching his brother leave the living room.

When he heard the front door of his house close, he sunk down on his seat and raked his hands through his hair.

“…I’m sick of this,” He mumbled to himself, in a barely audible voice, “I’m so sick of this.”

He rubbed at his eyes before sitting back up, his distressed expression lessening. He slightly swiveled the chair he sat in back and forth – brainstorming something.

He suddenly stopped his movements.

He had an idea.

 

\------

****

**_Hawkins, Indiana  
10/16/2016 - 3:35 P.M_ **

 

 “Dustin?”

The following day, Will had put a pause to the game he and Lucas were playing before answering his phone.

“I have some news you’re _not_ going to like,” Dustin spoke on the other line.

That was something Will could expect at this point. Though, his nerves were still rattling him.

“What is it?” He asked, feeling Lucas’ curious eyes on him.

“Jonathan told Max to organize a few storyboards that he planned for Chapter 12 and she showed some of them to me,” He began, “I think…”

There was a halt to his voice.

“…You think?”

“I think Jonathan plans on killing Mike again.”

Will froze, his eyes unblinking.

“Don’t take my word for it, but it’s supposed to take place at Hawkins General Hospital, where one of the nurses conspires to kill him through one of those IV fluid cords, one that’s injected with some sort of poisonous… Poloniyum? Polonium? However you pronounce it,” Dustin continued, “Don’t you think he’d get a lot of backlash from his fans for ending the series on such a bad note?”

Will chewed on his bottom lip, still trying to process everything that Dustin had just told him. It was an odd feeling, especially since he knew he was transported into the world or “alternate dimension” of Montauk. He was the one technically responsible for saving Mike Wheeler’s life. And he was sure Jonathan knew this too, but he was hiding it from Will, for some strange, inexplicable reason.

“He definitely would,” Will spoke up, “It doesn’t sit right with me for some reason and not for the reason you think.”

“Okay? Why doesn’t it sit right with you?”

Will silently told Lucas he was going to go to the adjacent dining room of his friend’s house. He didn’t want the other to hear what he was about to say to Dustin.

“When I was there, in that alternate dimension and I saw…him, I saw a living, breathing person,” He said in a quiet voice, “I know that sounds ridiculous because he’s technically a comic book character but something tells me that–”

“–That he’s actually real?”

“Yes!” Will exclaimed, thankful that Dustin was able to catch on so fast and sum up what he was thinking in a brief fashion.

The brown-haired boy nervously fidgeted with the tablecloth that lay on top of the dining table he stood next to. He had a feeling his friend wouldn’t take kind to the little theory he was coming up with.

“I don’t know about that, Will.”

“But, Dustin, even you said so yourself that we could treat Montauk as some sort of alternate dimension. So I’m thinking it’s some kind of dimension opposite ours on Earth. Like it takes place in Hawkins, Indiana, so they have their own little “Hawkins, Indiana”…and just like we have our own “Earth”, they have their own “Earth” – something like that.”

“An alternate dimension created by your brother? Is Jonathan some sort of god now?”

“Come on, this isn’t a joke!”

Will rolled his eyes when he heard Dustin’s little snort of laughter, at his own little quip. When Will’s friend calmed down, he spoke up.

“Okay, fine. I’m sorry. I just wanted to give you the news since I felt like you needed to know…just don’t tell Jonathan that I told you. He will murder me.”

“I’m not going to mention your name at all,” Will said.

“And-and don’t talk to him about it. He’s definitely going to come for me and Max if you do that!” Dustin quickly added, assuming Will would confront Jonathan, given the context of his last sentence.

“I have to go,” Will finally spoke up, after a rather long pause, “Lucas is probably going to wonder why I’m taking so long on the phone.”

“Okay, but don’t mention any of this to Jonathan!”

“Okay, okay.”

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow!”

“Yeah, see you,” Will hastily said before hanging up.

He went back in the other room, seeing Lucas hunching over his cellphone, completely involved in a series of texts he was sending to someone. The smile he had on his face said everything as his fingers made hurried texting motions.

“Are you bothering Max again?”

Lucas shot up, not expecting Will’s sudden entrance.

“Can you make a little noise when you walk? You’re just like your brother,” He joked.

“Well, yeah. We are related, after all,” Will shot back, grinning when he saw Lucas roll his eyes.

“And I’m not bothering Max. She actually texted me first this time,” The other said, scrolling up and shoving the phone in Will’s face. Will glanced at Max’s initial greeting, a bout of surprise entering him. It was a victory for Lucas as he had been crushing on Max for a few months now. Since they went to different schools and only saw each other outside of school through Dustin, a mutual friend, Lucas often tried to initiate conversations with her. But when she wasn’t reciprocating as much, he nearly gave up, until this happened.

“Well, then, I hope you have better luck with her this time,” Will replied, grabbing his phone and placing it into his pocket.

“Oh, you’re leaving already?” Lucas asked, noticing Will was in the process of gathering his stuff.

“Yeah, something…important came up,” There was a lull in his voice.

When Will left Lucas’ house, he quickly fished out his phone and went on one of the web browser apps. He typed in the word ‘Polonium’ onto the search bar. He scrolled down until he found the confirmation he was looking for.

Under the search result he stopped at, there was a description that read:

**_In recent years,_ ** _**Polonium** _ **_made the news because of its use as a poison._ ** _**Polonium** _ **_was blamed for the Nov. 23, 2006 death in London of the Russian Alexander..._ **

He shoved his phone back into his pocket before taking his bike to leave the property.

 

\------

****

**_Hawkins, Indiana  
10/16/2016 - 3:51 P.M_ **

 

Will decided last minute he would get something to eat. Instead of biking the usual way home, he biked into town to go into the nearest café he could find. It was a better alternative than eating the same exact leftovers for the third day in a row. Maybe something delicious would calm his budding nerves.

He saw a large raindrop fall on his forearm the minute he entered the town plaza. Within seconds, the rain became heavier, the droplets falling down at a rapid pace. He quickly biked towards the nearest building, a Radioshack, before parking his bike over the concrete sidewalk and standing under the ledge for protection.

Will let out an aggravated sigh, seeing the rain pour down ahead of him. He had no idea it would rain today. There was no indication that it would: no stormy skies, no weathermen saying there would be any sign of precipitation, and his weather app not saying a thing about rain on this very Sunday.

One thing he noticed was that it had been raining more frequently than usual. To him, it wasn’t a great way to kick off the fall.

His eyes glossed over the frantic shoppers who were either running through the rain without adequate protection or the very few who were prepared and had brought their large umbrellas with them. Will knew his choices were to either wait it out or bike in the rain for a good 15 minutes, just to get soaked to the brim of no return. Waiting it out seemed like the more viable option.

Will bit his lip and brought out his phone again.  

He told himself he wouldn’t do it, but he wouldn’t forgive himself if he didn’t.

He typed in his passcode and dialed Jonathan’s number.

The incessant dialing tone plagued him.

“Come on, come on, pick up,” Will said in a hushed voice.

He crossed his arm below the other that held the phone, to keep his hand from fidgeting.

“Hello?”

Will felt his heartrate increase, the moment he heard the voice from the other line.

“Jonathan, it’s me,” Will said, gripping the cellphone a little tighter.  

“Hey, Will. What’s up?”

From the other end, Jonathan was bit concerned about Will’s unexpected pause, or rather the long silence from his end. He guessed his brother was trying to consider the right words to say after the slightly stiff note they left off on the other day.

“Is everything okay?” The older brother said. To his dismay, the silence did make him uncomfortable, like Will was about to say something he didn’t want to hear.

“Do you have to kill Mike off?” Will suddenly asked, his eyes glued onto the pouring rain ahead. He knew the parking lot in front of him was going to be flooded at the rate the rain was pouring down at.

“Jesus Christ, did Dustin tell you anything? I told him not to–”

And of course, Jonathan was not happy.

“I-I made him tell me,” Will interrupted. He had hoped his lie would sound convincing enough, “So don’t get mad at him, please?”

“Whatever I’m planning to do, you shouldn’t be concerned about,” Jonathan said.

“But–”

“Will, it’s my comic. What I say or plan out about it, goes,” Jonathan interrupted.

“Does it have to be so sudden though?” Will ignored Jonathan’s subliminal requests to change the subject to anything that wasn’t Montauk, “I know you’ve been wanting to end Montauk for a while, but it seems wrong to do it this way.”

“You think you know better about my own work than I do?” It was clear Will’s older brother was becoming impatient with Will’s unusual persistence.

“I never said that. I’m trying to say that after everything that Mike has gone through, it’s not right for him to suddenly get killed off!” Will raised his voice. He didn’t like when Jonathan put words in his mouth, so he didn’t hesitate for a second. He didn’t want to think twice about what he was going to say or how he needed to say it, “It’s a huge disservice to all of the fans reading it and it completely makes Mike’s overcoming of all the struggles he had pointless!”

There was no way he could mention his theory about Mike being a living and breathing person to his brother. That would probably make their argument devolve into something much worse. In addition to that, Will wondered why his brother was so adamant ending Montauk this way. There were many different, happier endings that would do Montauk and Mike justice.

“Well, not every story gets a happy ending,” Jonathan said, his firm tone specifying that those were his final words.

Will left his mouth open to say something, but he couldn’t think of the right words to say. It was silent on either end, the heavy pitter-patter of rain being the only noise Will could hear.

His brother made a point, but his initial suspicions about this whole ordeal would not leave him. He didn’t want Jonathan to end it this way. He couldn’t let Jonathan end it this way. He looked downwards and loosened his hold on the phone.

“Jonathan, at least…at least think about I’m saying,” Will finally said.

His eyes were fixed on the brick-patterned sidewalk, waiting for the other to say something. He was unaware of the sudden stop of the rain as his concentration was fully fixated on what Jonathan would say next. There was a good ten seconds of silence until Will spoke again.

“Jonathan?”

There was no response from him.

“Hello?” Will said, “Jonathan–”

His voice came to an abrupt stop when he looked at what lie ahead of him.

It was noticeably darker outside and there was absolutely no sign of heavy rain. Just moments ago, the sky was a hazy blue, now it was a darker blue with the sun setting from afar. The ground was also completely dry with no indication that it rained at all.

Will could see that he was still in a plaza of some sorts with a parking lot in front of him. The general design of the plaza he was in was the same, but the buildings and sidewalk around him were completely different.

He looked at his phone and saw that it automatically hung up.

He suddenly whirled back and saw that the building behind him wasn’t a Radioshack, but a tattoo parlor. The interior had customers getting tattoos done rather than costumers looking through electronics.

Through the clear glass windows of the tattoo parlor, he saw several overhanging TVs.

“…They tried locating and identifying the assailant but his veiled appearance makes that a little bit of a challenge.” Will could vaguely hear the contents of the T.V from outside, a news reporter reporting the breaking news.

“Mike Wheeler currently remains at Hawkins General Hospital as his wound that was pronounced fatal at the scene continues to heal…”

“Oh my god, oh my god…” Will whispered, his hands trembling in front of him.

He was back.

He was really back.

And from what Dustin told him, Jonathan was going to kill off Mike at that same hospital. How he got here…and how he was going to get back would be a different story for later. But now, he had to do something else…and he had to do it quickly.

He couldn’t let another innocent human being die when he, himself, had the power to stop it.

Will looked beside him and saw that his bike hadn’t traveled to the “other dimension” with him. That was when he ran towards the street to hail a taxi, frantically waving his hand as he could see one not too far from his presence.

Seconds later, the taxi came to a screeching halt in front of him. He quickly flung open the back door and hopped in the passenger seat.

“Hawkins General Hospital!” Will exclaimed, before the driver could ask him “Where to?”.

 

\------

****_  
Hawkins, Indiana  
10/16/2016 - 4:11 P.M_

****

From his desk, Jonathan was drawing at a breakneck pace, filling in the general details of a new panel on his computer-tablet. 

He quickly drew in a female nurse, one who was obtaining a vial that he marked with the chemical, Polonium. The small panel next to it had the nurse grab a needle to pull out the Polonium fluid from the vial.

Jonathan moved onto the second row of the page which had the same nurse push a cart that contained the poisonous needle and other medical supplies. As he drew, his hands shook with anticipation of whether or not his newly devised plan would be executed perfectly.

On the next page, he drew the door to the room Mike was to be staying in at the hospital, marked with the number 353 of the heavily secured hospital floor. The door was guarded by two security guards, which made sense since Mike was a person of importance.

And with the following panel, Jonathan drew the unknowing guards allowing that nurse to enter Mike’s patient room, so she could administer the IV fluid…or rather the poisonous polonium fluid through Mike’s arm.

 

\------

 

****_Montauk, Book 4, Chapter 12  
Hawkins, Indiana  
10/8/2016 - 7:01 P.M_

 

Once the taxi driver reached the destination, Will saw a rather tall building, instantly recognizing it as the hospital. He used to make frequent trips to the place as a kid since he got sick often.

Right before the driver could fully stop his vehicle, the boy immediately pushed open the door and hopped out of the car.

“Hey, hey, hey! That’s five dollars and three cents!”

At the sound of the taxi driver’s angry voice, Will fished out his wallet, pulling out the first wad of cash he had, a 10 dollar bill. He carelessly threw it towards the driver.

“Keep the change!” He shouted before bolting towards the Hospital.

Will abruptly entered the building, seeing himself inside the grandiose hospital lobby. He had been here before countless times and it looked exactly as it did, back in his “dimension”. So he knew the general map of the building. All he needed was Mike Wheeler’s exact room number.

He looked down at his clothes, a long sleeved flannel sweater and dark blue jeans. There was no way he could get past security or any of the overseeing workers looking like this.

“…Stockroom, where’s the stockroom?” He mumbled to himself.

Luckily he remembered.

He ran towards the basement area, earning a few confused stares from a couple of onlookers. Once he was inside the stockroom, he looked around seeing various supplies until he saw freshly cleaned nurse uniforms stored within a certain corner.

Making sure no one else was in the room, he removed his flannel sweater and threw it behind the shelf adjacent to him. He instantly changed into the bright green medical scrubs, placing the top over his white t-shirt and the pants over his boxers. 

Hopefully the front desk lady wouldn’t show any form of suspicion.

Will emerged out of the stock room of the hospital building, in full uniform and all, with a stethoscope wrapped behind his neck to make it seem authentic enough. He let out a deep breath when he reached the main lobby and took confident strides towards the front desk. His heart was beating a million times per minute and his anxious thoughts were trying their hardest to get in the way. Despite that, Will wasn’t going to let himself mess up.

He would not forgive himself if he did.

He stopped.

He inched back, realizing he was a little too close to the edge of the desk. That was when he said what needed to be said.

“Can you tell me the room that Mike Wheeler is staying in?”

Will could feel his entire body heat up.

The middle aged woman behind the desk eyed him for a moment, her eyes glossing over his general appearance. Will instantly became uncomfortable again. He looked too young to be an actual nurse, let alone a high school senior. Will could feel himself shrink under her gaze, even though he vowed he would keep a self-assured and confident demeanor.

_Come on. Come on. Come on._

“And you’re seeing him for?” The woman finally said, pushing her glasses up.

Will hesitated for a split second. Behind the woman, he could see a colorful poster labeled ‘My High Blood Pressure Guide’ with intricate diagrams and text below.

“I’m supposed to do his bloodwork,” He quickly said.

The woman nodded.

“One second, I’ll get his information for you.”  


\------

 

Upon his entrance of the third floor, Will saw what looked to be like a security guard in front of double glass-panel doors. According to the general map of the floor he saw, those doors were supposed to lead to the rooms marked 350 and higher.

He pressed his lips together the moment he saw a group of nurses, their IDs clipped to their uniforms enter the hallway from another one. They were headed towards the doors that were closely being guarded. Will counted his blessings, lucky he was able to get by the front desk lady as she hadn’t asked for his ID…or noticed his lack of one. He knew he wouldn’t be so lucky this time.

That was when he strode behind the nurses as an effort to blend in with them.

Will made himself small, which was quite easy to do since he was already short-statured. From the corner of his sight, he could see the nurses hold up their ID’s, the guards nodding in approval. Before he knew it, he had passed through the doors alongside the other nurses, the guards not even noticing his presence.

Will let out a sigh of relief before quickly scooting himself away from the nurses and dashing towards the opposite hallway that included the room he needed to get to. Room 353.

 

\------

 

“…Room 353, room 353,” Will repeated to himself as he was bypassing the patient rooms on the third floor. He kept a very fast pace, his heart hammering against his chest. At this point he wasn’t completely sure the nurse was administering the poison into Mike’s arm. But there was no way he could get there late, he would have come all this way for nothing.

_…350…351…352…_

He stopped when he reached the door marked with the number 353. In large black letters, the three digit number was clearly marked over it. However, two security guards were blocking the entrance.

_Just how many of them are they?_

“I have to get inside,” Will said, nearly bent over and trying his hardest to catch his breath.

 “We can’t let you in.”

“But I–” Will said.

 “We already have a nurse assigned to this room.”

The other eyed Will, who was clothed in full uniform, no worker’s I.D in sight.

“You don’t have a proper I.D on you.”

“That nurse in there is about to poison him! I have to get inside!” Will exclaimed.

The guards were momentarily surprised at his words, which in turn distracted them. This allowed Will to stealthily reach towards the door handle of the patient room and push the door open.

“Hey!” One of them called from behind him.

Will ignored them and snuck into the room. He felt a pang in his stomach when he saw Mike on the hospital bed, his arm attached to an IV fluid set. Next to him, a female nurse with a syringe in hand was about to insert the needle into the set with what Will knew to be the poisonous Polonium solution.

“Stop!” Will shouted.  

Will’s loud voice instantly caught their attention.

The boy sped towards the nurse and knocked the syringe out of her hands. Will briefly glanced at Mike who looked to be at a stupor. Though, recognition dawned on his eyes the minute he had his eyes on Will. The latter had trouble maintaining his eye contact with Mike as his familiar stare – the exact same stare he gave him on the roof – catapulted his nerves.

“What the hell’s going on?” Another person beside Mike said. Will immediately recognized that as Steve, Mike’s most trusted bodyguard.

“She was trying to poison him,” Will said, regaining his composure. He picked up the syringe, “With Polonium. It would knock him out in seconds.”

Everyone’s eyes were on the nurse. Her eyes suddenly went wide. That was when she bolted out of the room.

“Lock the H Halls!” One of the guards watching shouted into the device he had. He briefly glanced at the other guard keeping watch, “Don’t let her escape!”

Said guard immediately ran after the nurse, before the other followed.

 

\------

 

Jonathan froze the moment he saw the panel he drew with the nurse injecting Polonium erase by itself.

He suddenly leaned forwards in astonishment when he saw that the now-erased panels were materializing into something else, newly drawn panels.

Those panels were being drawn in automatically.

All Jonathan could do was look on when he saw the automatic tracing of Will pushing himself into Mike’s patient room being drawn in at a fast pace, faster than he was able to draw. Chat bubbles were added in, depicting the exact dialogue that was going on in real-time.

**‘Stop!’**

The single word yelled out by the drawing of Will as he entered the room.

As fast as they were drawn-in, they were colored – resembling the finished product of the comic.

The next panel after that had Will knock the syringe out of the nurses hands.

Then came **‘What the hell’s going on?’** from a surprised Steve in the panel after that.

The succeeding drawings depicted everything going on in that other dimension and a much speechless Jonathan had absolutely no control over it.

 

\--------

 

Will crouched down, from the immense amount of shock and relief he was currently feeling, his hand clasped onto his chest.

Here he was, again. To top it all off, this was the second time he had saved Mike’s life. He flinched when he heard the door to the hospital room close, one of the guards coming back in.

“I called for backup. She’ll be in police custody in no time,” That guard said.

“Okay, good,” Steve replied, “That was a close one.”

Seconds later, the doctor assigned to Mike stepped into the room to double check and see if anything else was wrong.

That was when Will bolted back up, just about ready to head outside of the patient room and leave. Right before he could sneak a step forward without making a noise and directing any attention on himself, he heard Steve’s voice from behind him.

“Who are you?”

Will froze.

Just as fast as he came into this room, he wanted to leave. He didn’t want to raise anymore suspicion from them than he already did.

“Nobody,” Will muttered, his voice feeble.

Steve crossed his arms, expecting much more than that.

“…I don’t think that really matters now,” Will timidly said, reiterating himself.

“I think it does. Especially since you know something that we–”

“Steve, can you let me talk to him?”

Will raised his eyebrows when he saw Mike shift upwards from the hospital bed he laid back in. Steve raised his hands in admission before he backed away.

He nervously stuffed his hands in his uniform pockets, staring down at the floor as he did all he could to avoid eye contact. Mike’s penetrating stare was a little too much for him and the distrust that Steve was harboring added to the discomfort and awkwardness he felt.

“Wait a second.”

Will looked up, eyeing Mike. He immediately brought his stare back down, unable to take the looming curiosity in Mike’s eyes.

“I knew it,” Mike said, the corners of his mouth turned up into a small smile.

Will’s face turned red. He was ready to assume the worst.

“You’re the guy who saved me the other day.”

He assumed right.

Will shifted his position, his hands were sweating in his pockets. He had to find some way to walk away from this. He couldn’t let anyone from this world suspect anything, he wanted to avoid anything that would possibly get him entangled further into this issue. The fact that he got transported back into this world was already stressful enough to deal with, especially since it was out of his control. Now that he rescued Mike who was, once again, seconds away from a death sentence, he had to find some way to get out and return home as quickly as possible to find some way to make sure none of this would ever happen again.

“N-no, I wasn’t!” Will quickly shook his head.

_God, I’m so pathetic._

Mike pursed his lips, purely unconvinced. Will knew Mike wouldn’t believe that so he had no idea why he denied it in the first place.

“What’s your name?” Mike asked.

“Will–”

Will stopped himself, now realizing what he just did. His heartrate skyrocketed.

“Will Byers, right?”

_Fuck._

“N-no, t-t-that’s not my name,” Will lied, his face reddened. That guy who walked up to him the other day must have told Mike. For a second, Will forgot how clever Mike was as a character. He put him on the spot by asking him the question on purpose, just so he could confirm that. With a combination of Will being bad at lying and his edginess, there was no going back.

“But you look exactly like the person who did,” Mike said, slightly tilting his head to the side, “There can’t be two different people with the first name Will who spontaneously appear in my presence and then save my life when I’m on the brink of losing it. That’s too unbelievable in of itself to be a coincidence.”

All Will could do was remain silent. Mike had left him dumfounded.

Steve looked shocked, just now putting two and two together.

“We’ve been looking all over the place for you!” Steve spoke up, looking in Will’s direction, “One of our guys who asked for your name said you suddenly left after he checked up on Mike in the ambulance. We even went as far as to search your full name through official records but for some reason, nothing came up.”

Will let out a nervous chuckle, a little astonished at Steve’s admission.

“Look, I have to go…” The brown-haired boy said, turning his body halfway, ready head towards the door.

“Hold on, Will. I’m sort of confused.”

_...Guess it’s too late to back out now._

“How did you know that nurse was about to poison me?”

_I know all of this because you’re actually the main character of a graphic novel I read on a regular basis from a completely different dimension._

He couldn’t say that for obvious reasons. That would lead into a much longer conversation which was the last thing he wanted. They’d also think he was crazy.

“I…I…” Will began, trying to think of something plausible, _anything_ plausible, to say, “I…had a feeling! Yeah…I had a feeling that nurse was up to something suspicious.”

“And you work here?” Steve added, noting the uniform Will had on, “Don’t you look a little too young to be a working nurse? You look like you’re in high school.”

Will bit his bottom lip, a little too hard. The put-on confidence he had at the front-desk was nowhere to be found at this point.

“I’m…uhh…interning…here…as an…assistant.”

He could feel sweat beads form on the tip of his forehead.

“…and you had “a feeling” she was up to something suspicious?” Steve continued, his lingering suspicion, once again, present in his features, “Something doesn’t add up–”

“Steve, let me ask the questions. We don’t want to interrogate him, he’s probably overwhelmed over what happened moments ago,” Mike interrupted. He saw Steve’s unmoving expression, “Please?”

Steve sighed.

“Okay, okay. Fine. You’re the boss.”

“Thank you,” Mike said, he looked back at Will, “Since you’ve saved my life, not once, but twice, I want to make it up to you.”

“You do?” Will raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I never got to properly thank you. It’d feel wrong if I just let you go without one.”

Will hesitated.

When he was about to open his mouth, he saw someone else barge into the room – escorted by yet another guard. It was a girl, about Will’s age. Her chestnut colored eyes were wide with alarm, the moment she saw Mike on his hospital bed. Her shoulder-length brown hair which was dyed a light golden-brown at the ends bounced along with her as she strode towards the dark-haired boy. Will recognized her as Jane Hopper – the girl who was supposed to be crushing on Mike and Mike’s assumed love interest. She was a childhood friend of his and they had known each other since they were in Kindergarten; it was clear Jonathan wanted his readers to know they had a lot of history.

She leaned over and gave Mike a short hug in which he gladly returned.

“Steve just texted me the news,” She said, her voice almost out of breath, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” He said back. Once they let go of their short-lasting hug, Mike gestured towards Will, “We have Will over here to thank. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be alive.”

She quickly brought Will into a tight hug in which he slowly returned. He was a little taken aback by her grandiose affection.

“Thank you so much, Will.”

“Um...it’s no problem, Jane.”

She suddenly loosened her hold and retreated out of their hug before stepping back. She slightly frowned, confusion clouding her features. Will could only raise his eyebrows, his confusion matching hers.  

“How do you know my name?”

_Shit._

Will didn’t even wait for her to introduce herself. Instead, he went ahead and addressed her by first name without thinking. Now their suspicion was going to be pronounced, all thanks to his recklessness.

“I…uhh…”

He couldn’t start his sentence because one of the guards who were watching by the door, walked towards Steve.

“I told one of our guys to mention Will to the police, so they could take him in for questioning,” He said.

“What??” Will eyes widened.

“There’s been a huge search for you since your disappearance and your name even made headlines,” Steve said, “They need to clear up a few things. Some high-profiles even think that you might be an accomplice to the guy who attacked Mike since we’re unable to find anything about you.”

“But I’m not! I saved his life,” Will retorted.

“That’s exactly why we need to clear your name, to put aside the suspicion those people have.”

Will fervently shook his head.

“T-That can’t happen.”

“How come?” Mike spoke up.

There were a plethora of reasons, Will not having a public record was the first of them. No matter how hard they would try, they wouldn’t be able to find one of him since he wasn’t supposed to exist in this “dimension” in the first place. He would probably remain in police custody until they could find something…and that would never happen.

Will unfortunately could feel the suspicious glances of Steve…and even Jane on him. He couldn’t blame them. Mike, however, wasn’t suspicious; he seemed curious.

“I just can’t. Now is not the right time,” Will cleared his throat.

It was silent, them waiting for Will to further explain himself.

“Mike, you said you’d make it up to me.”

“I did, I don’t ever break promises.”

“Okay,” Will breathed out, “I need your help…to get out of here quietly.”

“Will, I’m so confused about…all of this, and I have so many questions about a lot of things,” He replied, noticing Will’s desperation, “I don’t think you’re an accomplice of any sorts, though. I know you legitimately want to help me and you did so twice in very similar circumstances. But there’s something you know, that none of us know. I just want answers, that’s all.”

“And I can give you those answers, soon. All of them.” Will said, his heartbeat racing, “But now, I can’t. I can’t let the police find me.”

Mike observed Will’s pleading stare. The brown-haired boy silently was pleading Mike to say anything, anything that would get him out of this current situation.

“When can I see you again?”

Steve gave Mike a questioned glance, completely confused at his judgement. Will’s hands were clammy, trying to come up with an answer that would satisfy the others. He shifted his pupils back towards the floor, then back at Mike.

“…When you’re out of the hospital,” Will finally said. He fished a shaky hand into his pocket and brought out his phone. He had no idea what he was doing, but this was his only way out. He walked a little closer to Mike, avoiding Jane’s inquisitive stare, “Here, I’ll give you my number. You can call me once you’re out, and then we can meet up.”

“Okay.”

Will almost let out a breath of relief, but contained himself.

Once he gave him the 10 digit number, he slightly backed up.

“Mike, the cops are about to reach the third floor.”

“You promise you won’t back out?” Mike spoke up.

Will hesitated, immediate guilt harboring him. There was no way he could keep such a promise. The minute he was escorted out of the hospital was the minute he would vow to make sure he’d never end up in this world again.

“…Promise,” He said, “We’ll meet up.”

“Okay, that’s good,” Mike said, his lips curling up into a genuine smile. His face always lit up when he smiled, so Will’s heart naturally sank at this. He didn’t want to feel such guilt, but he couldn’t help it. His kindhearted nature often got the best of him.

“Thanks, Will.”

“No problem, Mike.”

With that, Steve motioned Will to come out of the room with him. A remorseful Will looked over his shoulder once more, seeing Mike and Jane watch him closely as he leave. Before he was out of the door, he could see Mike give him a short wave.

“I’ll escort you out of here through the West wing. It might take a little longer than the usual entrance, but none of the cops are going through those hallways at the moment.”

“Okay,” Will nodded.

Steve immediately pulled Will back once they heard a few scuffles. The taller male peeked through the wall, seeing several cops walk through an adjacent hallway. Will did the same, his eyes darting in that direction for a split second, before he pulled back behind the corner.

_They’re actually looking for me._

\------

_Once you reach the flight of steps at the L Hall, go down them until you reach the basement floor. Then you’ll end up at another hallway, turn left and head out through the furthest door._

Steve’s words replayed in his head, over and over.

Will ran through an empty hallway of the basement, his eyes on the door at the end. That was supposed to be his way outside. Once he pushed through them he ended up at an alley, the cold air hitting his face the minute he did so.

Will quickly removed his uniform top, revealing the thin white t-shirt he wore under it. He threw the article of clothing, it landing in the dumpster box beside him. He paused for a moment, thinking up of a way to disguise himself. In case there were cops near the vicinity he was going to end up in, they would have trouble recognizing him.

That was when he ruffled his hair, making it slightly disheveled.

_That would do, right?_

He was doubtful, but hopeful.

 

\------

 

Will saw a bus stop ahead of him. He almost tripped over himself when he stopped at the commercial bench within it. The brown-haired boy coughed out, trying to catch his breath. His lungs felt like they were about to burn and his face must have been as bright as a tomato by now. He sat down, deciding he had ran a good enough distance from the hospital.

“Oh god…” He breathed out. He brought his hand to his forehead, pushing aside his bangs as he leaned over.

Once his breathing caught up with him, he leaned back, his head softly colliding with the glass pane behind him. He looked around, seeing the town buildings, windows lit up, and street lamps illuminating the area in which they stood. The sky was pitch dark, white specks of stars decorating it. He occasionally saw people: families, businesspeople, whoever, going about their business and cars on the road in front of him speeding towards their destination.

It was quiet.

That was nothing strange. It was nighttime. Hawkins was usually quiet at such a time, so that must have applied in this dimension too.

What _was_ strange was that nothing was happening.

Where were the words **‘To Be Continued’**?

Will could see no sign of them. He quickly came to realize that was his only ticket out of this world and back into his own.

Now was an appropriate time for them to appear since nothing was happening.

Will frantically looked in any direction to see if they would appear…anywhere. He glanced back down at his lap, his leg nervously bouncing in front of him.

“This is great, just great–”

Will’s voice came to a halt when he saw how quickly the second and minute hand on his hand watch were rotating. He pressed his brows together when the same happened to the hour hand, the hand spinning at lightning speed.

He looked up and his eyes became wide. His jaw dropped.

The surroundings around him were moving at a _very_ rapid pace: pedestrians zooming, their legs blurred since they were moving so fast, the cars on the street bolting across the street, and the sky changing colors – light blue, blue with a pinkish hue, dark blue, day and night, back and forth. Will was the only object in motion within the vicinity to remain at a normal moving pace.

Will looked back at his watch, the minute and hour hand continuing to rotate quickly.

…He was traveling forward in time.

Will gasped when the surroundings stopped moving for a split second. Afterwards, they returned to their normal pace.

Will’s eyes remained wide agape, his mouth wide open.

_What the hell just happened?_

The sky was bright, birds were chirping, and the afternoon sun was glistening down on him. Pedestrians and drivers were ambling about through the street – going about their day, as if nothing happened. This certainly did not happen to him the last time he was transported here. Will was just about ready to freak out– 

Suddenly, his cellphone rang.

“Shit!” Will jolted upright, disturbed by the sudden noise. His hands were trembling as his heart raced.

The phone rang again.

“Oh shoot…that scared me…” He could barely breathe out as he attempted to calm himself down.

Before it could ring for the third time, he picked it up.

“H-hello?”

Will’s voice was small and feeble.

“Hey, Will. It’s Mike.”

_What._

“Oh, y-y-yeah…h-hi,” Will stuttered. His thoughts were all over the place, he was still in a panicked state, and he had a million questions to ask but he could barely get his words out.

“It’s been a while, huh? I just got out of the hospital a couple of days ago,” He said, “And I was wondering if you were free to meet up today.”

_…just how much time passed?_

“I’m free…”

Before Will could think, he had uttered those words. Maybe it was his propensity not to back down on a promise.

“Great! Where do I pick you up?” He said, his voice enthusiastic, “I want to take you out somewhere to eat, as a proper thank you.”

This was actually happening.

“The bus stop…at Mulberry Street,” Will concluded. He shivered, feeling a blast of cool air hit him.

“Oh, that’s the one not too far from the hospital.”

“Yeah…when we last saw each other,” Will nervously laughed, but much to his embarrassment, it came off as forced and mechanical. But to his luck, Mike didn’t seem to catch it over the phone.

“I’ll be there in about 10 minutes, okay?”

“Okay,” The other nodded, even as Mike couldn’t physically see him, “See you, Mike.”

After a few short words, Will hung up and held his phone up in midair, still in shock and utter confusion at what happened moments go.

Will hoped he didn’t just make a huge mistake.

 


End file.
